Hard and Fast

Fast Track Series - Book 2

Author: Erin McCarthy


Imogen Wilson was raised in the world of academia. She's a grad student majoring in sociology. Her professor/mentor/friend is married to a race car driver. It's during a trip to the track with that Imogen meets Nikki Howard, a woman bent on marrying a driver. When she sees Nikki's dating manual "How to Marry a Race Car Driver in Six Easy Steps" she thinks she's found the subject of her thesis. The plan? Read the manual and use the techniques on several drivers and see if such manuals actually work.

Ty McCordle loves fast women and faster cars. He lives for speed. Racing is all he's ever wanted to do. It's also all he fears he's qualified to do. A severe case of dyslexia has kept Ty from learning to read. He's gotten where he is by his wits and talent behind the wheel. Very few people know about his illiteracy and that's the way he likes it. When he meets Imogen he finds himself both attracted and intimidated.

Imogen knows she can't use Ty as a test subject for her thesis because she's very attracted to him and doubts her ability to keep from becoming emotionally attached. She feels this is a bad idea because she's nothing like the flashy, built girls Ty usually goes for. Ty, however, has set his sights on her and she doesn't stand a chance. She knows she'll probably get hurt when Ty moves on, but she can't resist him. Ty's never felt jealousy over a woman before, but when he finds out that Imogen plans to flirt with other drivers and then that one of the drivers on his own team has been asking her out, he's forced to admit to himself, and to her, that he wants her all to himself. Imogene's been swept off her feet, but her logical mind is telling her there's too much she doesn't know about Ty and that's got her running scared. Can Ty convince her he's really in it for the long haul?


Imogen's character had to be my favorite of the bunch. She was cute, smart, and socially awkward ... all things I love in a romance character. I really wanted to love Ty, but I didn't feel much of a connection to the character. I guess, like Imogene, I didn't feel like I knew enough about Ty. There wasn't as much depth to him as there was to Imogen. It greatly annoyed me that a man that smart, and with the kind of resourced he had, didn't try to find a way to learn to read. There is plenty of info out there about dyslexia, plenty of programs designed to help people with dyslexia to learn, that he had to have known there were ways for him to overcome his issue. His illiteracy was such a sore point for him. yet he did nothing to change it. Then there were the horrible things he said to Imogen. One of the things I love best about romances is the HEA. Sometimes I don't feel a couple should have one, like when either the hero or the heroine does something that they should not be forgiven for or haven't made up for. I'm not saying that happened with this book, but I did feel that Ty got off a bit lightly. All in all, I enjoyed this book and am really looking forward to the next book. I really want to know what Ryder did, or Susan thinks he did, that ended their marriage and how they can come back from it.